It All Started at the World Cup
by Halvogirl
Summary: The world needed to move on after the horrors of the war. So did Hermione. This is a tale of Hermione Granger and Viktor Krum, and how their story began at the first world cup after the war.
1. Default Chapter

This is my second atempt to get Hermione and Viktor's story out of my head. Ittakes place after the end of the war, when the wizarding world just needs to move beyond the horrors of the past years, and get on with living.

Disclaimer: not my characters. Not my world. No matter how much is wish it was....so don't sue.

The celebration continued on for hours after the snitch was caught and Bulgaria won their first world cup in over a decade. No one was more proud of the lanky seeker who reached out and snatched that small hint of winged gold from the air than the bushy haired eighteen year old screaming from the top box. The game had been passionately quick; the fall weather was beautiful in Italy and the perfect place for the wizarding community to step forward without fear, being only months after the end of the war.

Inside the small but luxuriously decorated tent-house, provided to the staring seeker by the foreign ministry, the celebration was still evident even though it was nearing three in the morning. The victorious team was rightfully sinking down the alcohol and boisterously singing their national anthem, while shooting sparks and other sorts into the air from the wands. All but the host, and hero of the game, who was busy refilling drinks, as well as turning down them. Hermione mingled with the party as she swooped in and out of rooms, chatting, gathering dishes, replacing snacks, shooing reporters and doing all the things that was expected of a hostess.

"That was quite a party." Hermione stated later clearing of the table with a wave of her wrist and pointing the last of the dishes to the sink.

"That vas quite a game." Vicktor responded taking a few sidesteps so that the plates didn't crash into his solid mass on their way to the basin. "I knew ve had a lot of energy from being off for the whole season last, but ohh, that vas one of the fastest games I have ever been in, or even seen. Vich is something, vhen practically your whole life is Quidditch."

"Three hours of non stop action." Hermione scooped up a pile of used napkins, "And I mean non stop, my omnioculars couldn't keep up with that pace. It was all blurs in blues and red." She dropped the armload in the garbage bag he held out for her, "I was relieved that you caught that snitch. My neck hurt from trying to keep up with all those turns," at this she gathered her mass of hair with one hand and rubbed her neck with the other to prove her point. "And I didn't know scores could go that high."

"990 to 780 not bad at all." He said twisting the bg closed, "Feel like doing dishes at all?" he asked sinking down on the couch apparently not feeling up to the challenge.

"Sorry mister." She said plopping down beside him, "I'm your girlfriend not your maid." She teased resting her head onto his chest. He still wore his Quidditch robes, scarlet as blood, and even though he had waved a wand and cleaned most of the mess out of the fabric, she could still smell his pleasant aroma mixed with the grass he had skidded along more than once during the game.

"You're a good hostess, if I say so." He said tracing a course thumb along her jawbone.

"Ha!" she guffawed turning around so she could look up into his face and sliding into his lap as she rearranged herself, "A good hostess by practically chasing them out of the tent!"

"Yes." He said shaking his head. This movement still confused her at times, it seemed strange to her that shaking his head was yes, and nodding was no when it had been the reverse her entire life.

"Yes." She said teasingly nodding her head. He smiled his wonderful secretive smile and gathered her face in his large hands pulling her up for a slightly sideways kiss. The corner of her lips tightened as she both smiled and kissed back at the same time. She followed his lips up wrapping her arms around his neck and sliding up next to him.

They kissed again his thumb still rubbing at her pulse as the other caught in her hair. He twirled the curls in his fingers and his lips parted and sucked slowly at hers. She obliged opening hers and slipping her tongue into his mouth. She was completely caught up in the kissing. When she first meet Viktor she had decided he didn't care much about anything, but he did care about many things, and what he did care about he did it with a fierce passion, whether it be studying, Quidditch or as Hermione had found out in recent months, placing kiss after kiss on her.

They continued, lips tracing along faces and necks while hands searched each other's curves and muscle. She was so caught up in the mood that it wasn't until she felt his calloused hand touch her bare middle, did she realize he was practically laying on top of her, his hand slipping under her blouse. She stiffened solid as a board.

Sensing her discomfort he pulled back mumbling an apology as he covered his face. "Sorry, sorry…"he repeated several times through his large hands as Hermione sat perfectly straight, as if a ruler was taped to her spine.

They both sat there, the cushion separating them seeming a whole desert and not at all the fabric square yard it was. Each replaying what had happened in their heads. After an eternity, which only lasted a few minutes, Hermione softly spoke.

"I pulled you down, didn't I?" She looked over at Viktor whom was now leaning against the back of the sofa, his head at a strange angle, wide-eyed and staring at the roof.

He stayed silent for a few moments longer before muttering, "Yes. But, I didn't complain."

The silence continued as they both tried to grasp how serious their relationship had gotten, how close they where mentally, spiritually, and evidently, physically. It had seemed like hardly more than friendship to Hermione, but there she was pulling Viktor on top of her in a fit of passion. Unable to handle this new revelation she stood to leave.

"Sorry." She sputtered making her way around the coffee table and to the door, "It really is getting late. Molly will worry about me if I don't get back to the tent soon, if she hasn't sent out a search party yet." She made her way to the front closet reaching in to pull on her outer robe, when she felt a hand on her elbow.

"Stay." The calm voice said.

"What?" Hermione asked in amazement as she turned to see his blank face, his eyes showing both terror and thrill by the offer he had just made.

"Stay vith me?" his eyes implored searching her features.

"What about Molly?" she asked letting her grip go on the robe.

"You are a voman now. Vorthy of making your own decisions." He responded the hope growing in his eyes. "Vill you spend the night with me Hermione Granger?"

She was stunned by this, although she had been expecting it. Her whole romantic life flew before her eyes. Being teased as a child of eight by the boy whom she had decided to give her heart to. Batting her eyes at a fool of a teacher. Ignoring all contact with boys. Than, talking to a young man with a thick accent in a dusty library, helping him find the right books or translation when Madame Pince wasn't around. Watching amazed as he stumbles on his words asking her to a dance only a short time later. Shocked when others asked her too. Twirling on a dance floor, being saved from mermaids, a warm moment by the side of a pond as he pulled her close and asked her to visit his house.

Than of course becoming scared and pushing him away when she started to realize she had feelings for him, exiling him to pen pal. Falling for him more and more with every letter. Than a series of Hogsmeade trips and holidays with secret rendezvous, meeting his strange family and him meeting hers. Another exiling to "just friends" when he became her teacher, followed by a forbidden relationship. The fight between him and Ron over her heart that came after. All this followed by more realizations, and now a trip to Italy and a rumpled couch.

"Viktor?" she asked placing her free hand on his cheek and holding his gaze, "Do you love me?" she asked with all honesty, desiring and fretting the answer with all her being.

"Yes," he said firmly as she felt his smile spread under her palm, "I love you, Hermione Granger."

She returned the smile, beaming up at him, "I love you too. And yes, I will stay with you tonight."

And with that he swept her up into his arms for a kiss, before carrying her down the hall and into the bedroom.

The story will continue. If you but review.


	2. A confrontation

Thank you all for reviewing my first chapter; your comments have been highly appreciated and helpful. Please keep reviewing. I hope this next installment is accepted with as much kindness. I just need to get thier story out so here is the next bit……..

It was the sun streaming in the strange mesh window and across her face that woke her up. She smiled as she felt the beams warmth compete with the heat of the body pressed so fiercely but naturally against her own. Closing her eyes again she hoped that this moment would last for eternity, so she focused on sketching every detail into her memory. Her back was pressed to his chest, his right arm was under her pillow clasping her right hand, and the other wrapped protectively around her bare waist, keeping her tight against him, her arm lay on top, keeping him tight against her. She turned her head slightly to let the steady breath tickle her neck even more.

She grinned as she thought how they must look. Lost in each other's arms, holding on so tight. _You're my security_, She thought to herself as she grasped his hand under her own, _I must love you so much_. She giggled to herself because at the conclusion, startled and giddy by the severity of the statement.

He stirred as she moved; she stopped giggling immediately, afraid that he would awake and pull away. But he just sighed as he pulled her tighter to him mumbling something in Bulgarian before kissing her softly on the nape of her neck. "Vhy can not ve stay like this forever?" He whispered in her ear.

She turned her face to look into his rich eyes. "Why not?" She turned the rest of her body to him kissing him softly on the lips before curling up against him, pulled in safe and warm, chest against chest, his chin resting on her head. His arms encircled her, as she listened to the beating of his heart. They stayed like that until the sun had crawled all the way across the bed, content to just be with each other.

"What time is the press meet?" Hermione asked, knowing that the day did have to go on, no matter how much they didn't want it to.

He sighed letting Hermione smile as his chest cavity swelled up. "Ten-thirty." He reluctantly said.

"What time do you think it is now?"

"Vell past time to be getting ready." He kissed her softly on the head through the thick mess of hair. "Must be getting up." He said as he reluctantly pushed his way into a sitting position.

"Drated morning." Hermione said as she sat up and leaning against the headboard, pulling the blanket around her breasts and stretching out her toes at the same time. "Had to just force its way into such a perfect night."

"Completely Perfect." Viktor said as he leaned over and planted another kiss on her lips. She kissed back letting the blankets fall and leaning into him, her fingers traced along his bare back and wrapped around his shoulders. He pulled back momentarily to look at her, she sat unashamed as his eyes swept across her exposed body, feeling her body prickle at the look in his eyes, how intense they were under his thick brows. He took his large hands and cupped her face in them, a look of wonder and awe in his face. "Beautiful." Was all he could whisper through his trembling lips, "Beautiful."

She smiled as she reached up and placed a hand against his cheekbone, "Beautiful." She repeated back to him. They kissed again, pulling each other down into the sheets, diving deeper and deeper into their own little world, lost in the sea of each other.

They where both pulled sharply back to reality by the rapping on the door. Some one was urgently trying to get their attention. They fell apart, both panting as the sheets where thrown off. "Coming!" Viktor hollered as he started to search to floor for clothing.

"I'll get it." Hermione said realizing Viktor was not in the condition to be answering the door. She reached down and haphazardly threw on the first shirt she could find. It was Viktor's from the game the day before. She had barley time to marvel at how perfectly happy she was to be snug inside one of his shirts before she had come through the kitchen and front room and thrown the canvas door open."Yes?" she called rattled before throwing the door open all the way.

But it was who stood in the entryway that more thoroughly rattled her. There stood Ronald Weasley opened mouthed and shocked at Hermione's presence, he did a quick up and down glance of Hermione before turning bright red and looking away. Suddenly the shirt didn't feel so snug and safe to Hermione, she felt exposed and utterly confused as she hid herself behind the door. "Yes?" she heard a shrill voice she knew to be hers ask once more, as her mind yelled at her for opening the door.

Ron looked completely crushed, his face no longer red but a deathly pale as several varying emotions played across it, she had never seen him like this before. It was like all the air had been let out of him; he stood there deflated as he tried to come up with an answer. "You….." he begin weakly before his voice gave way, " Didn't come….back to the tents…last night." He stuttered making furtive glances at her as he tried to find the words. "Mum was really worried." He got really quite now as he tried to continue, "But Ginny suggested you where….." he gulped and looked down at his sneakers. "I mean to say that you and Viktor where going to…." He stopped and looked up into Hermione eyes. "She said you would be here." Hermione watched as his adamsapple pulled down and up with a gulp, "And safe. That is what Ginny said."

The pain and humiliation she saw in his eyes was almost unbearable. She looked down at herself, almost ashamed. _Why am I feeling this way_, she thought to herself, _How could I go from being so happy to miserable in such a short span of time_? She gulped and looked up, forcing her usual strength coming back to her face and voice. "She was right." She said strongly, stepping out from behind the door, showing she had nothing to hide. "I am perfectly safe." Then to this she added, "And _perfectly_ happy."

Ron stared at her, his pale face starting to glow again in anger, "Fine!" he shouted, "I don't care if you are happy! Mum only wanted me to come and see if you wanted you're clothes for the day brought here." He towered over her in a rage, his hands firmly clasped in fists; knuckles white, fingernails digging in skin.

Hermione wasn't moved by his anger but retaliated in her own annoyingly calm anger, "Oh yes. That would be great." Hermione said exaggeratedly, than she commented calculatingly to cut him to the core, "Mine seem to have been _removed_."

She had been expecting him to blow up in one of his characteristically angry tirades, but instead of anger, she only saw more hurt and embarrassment flash across his face. He stumbled to find words, as he stood there open mouthed and defeated.

"Ron?" Hermione asked eyes wide with worry, stretching forward one hand. He dodged it and took a step back still sputtering. "Ron?" she asked again letting her arm drop to her side. "Ronald Weasley, god damn it!" she screamed furiously, "Say something!" she demanded stomping her foot. They stood there for what felt like to Hermione an eternity, staring down at each other.

"Why him?" he managed to finally say.

"He was always there." Hermione managed to answer taken aback by the question.

"So was I." Ron said his eyes fixed to the spot, staring a hole in the ground.

"But he made a move." Hermione found herself saying, completely honest. "He made a move Ron." She reached forward again, this time grasping his chin and forcing him to look her in the eye. "That's why." She let go and stepped back behind the door, signaling the end of the conversation.

"Who is at the door Hermininny?" she heard Viktor call behind her as he finally made his way to the door.

"Maybe I wasn't allowed to Hermione." Ron said in a harsh whisper with a look of defiance in his eyes as Viktor pulled up along side Hermione. She noticed Viktor had thrown on a pair of red boxer shorts with an open robe as he hugged her next to the door.

"Just Ron." Hermione said ignoring Ron's cutting words as she hugged Viktor back fiercely, more to show Ron she had made her decision than anything else, "Mrs. Weasley was worried about me just like I said she would, so she sent out the search party." She smilingly explained to the Bulgarian.

"Ah, that is to be expected." Vitkor said in his thick accent.

"Um Ron." Hermione said turning back to him, "Just have Ginny sent with my things."

Ron nodded sharply as he turned and started his way back across the maze of tents. He made his decision right then and there. He would make his move, even if it would destroy his current relationship with Her, he would make his move.

Thank You


End file.
